Stroukoff Aircraft was an American manufacturer of experimental

military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...

, established in 1954 by Michael Stroukoff. Successor to

Chase Aircraft The Chase Aircraft Company, founded in 1943, was an American aircraft manufacturer, primarily constructing assault gliders and military transport aircraft. Lacking space for expansion, the company was purchased by Henry J. Kaiser in 1951. Plans t ...

, the company specialised in developing advanced variants of the

C-123 Provider The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and then built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force ...

; however, none of the company's designs attracted a production order, and the company folded in 1959.

Founding

During the late 1940s, Ukrainian

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self- exile. The word is the past participle of the French ''émigrer'', "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Huguenots fled France follow ...

Michael Stroukoff designed the XG-20 for

, the largest glider ever built in the United States. Modified into the

,Andrade 1979, p. 87. the aircraft had won a contract for production from the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

, 49% of Chase being acquired by

Kaiser-Frazier The Kaiser-Frazer Corporation (1947–1953 as Kaiser-Frazer) was the result of a partnership between industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and automobile executive Joseph W. Frazer.Willow Run Willow Run, also known as Air Force Plant 31, was a manufacturing complex in Michigan, United States, located between Ypsilanti Township and Belleville, built by the Ford Motor Company to manufacture aircraft, especially the B-24 Liberator heav ...

facility. However, a scandal involving Kaiser resulted in the C-123 contract being cancelled;''Life'' July 6, 1953, p.22 with Kaiser having bought out the remainder of Chase and dissolving the company, Stroukoff acquired the company's facilities at the Trenton airport, and established his own company to continue development of the C-123 design.

YC-123D and E

YC-123E with pantobase landing gear 1955

Stroukoff's first advanced variant of the C-123 design was the YC-123D, modified from the XC-123A prototype - itself a modified XCG-20Gunston 1980 - which had been the first jet transport to fly in the United States. Flying in 1954, the YC-123D was fitted with the twin piston engines of the normal C-123 family, and was equipped with a

boundary layer control Boundary layer control refers to methods of controlling the behaviour of fluid flow boundary layers. It may be desirable to reduce flow separation on fast vehicles to reduce the size of the wake (streamlining), which may reduce drag. Boundary l ...

(BLC) system. The BLC diverted air from the engines to blow over the wing, increasing lift and reducing the aircraft's takeoff and landing distances.Sergievsky et al. 1998, p.128 The following year, Stroukoff modified a C-123B into the YC-123E, fitted with Stroukoff's own Pantobase landing gear system. The Pantobase system allowed the aircraft to land on any reasonably flat surface - land, water, or snow - and proved remarkably successful in testing.

YC-134

Following its successful trials, the YC-123E was further developed into the YC-134. Designated MS-8-1 by the company,''The Aerospace year book'', Volume 39 (1958), p.307. the YC-134 featured both boundary layer control and the Pantobase landing gear; in addition, the aircraft was fitted with more powerful engines, tailplane endplates, additional wheels for the main landing gear, and an improved fuel system. Intended for

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada ( Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm ( Greenland), Finland, Iceland ...

use,''Air Force'' magazine, Volume 40 (1957), p.93. the YC-134's test flight program proved successful. However, its increase in performance over that of the C-123 was considered inadequate; in addition, there was simply no need for an additional piston-engined transport by that time, and the proposed production contract was cancelled. With the failure to gain any contracts for production of its designs, Stroukoff dissolved the company in 1959.Pattillo 2000, pp.165-166.

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{{Chase aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Trenton, New Jersey Manufacturing companies established in 1954 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1959 1954 establishments in New Jersey 1959 disestablishments in New Jersey American companies disestablished in 1959 American companies established in 1954